Raiders win gold at 6th Algarve Open Wheelchair Basketball Tournament

The Raiders team brought back gold after travelling out to Tavira, Portugal to contest the sixth annual Algarve Open Wheelchair Basketball Tournament. The squad of 11 beat the Portugese National team to secure a first place finish in a hotly contested final.

The Algarve Open had six teams competing this year, namely:
Portugal 1 & 2 (Two halves of the Portugese National Team)
APD Sintra, the reigning Portugese league champions
ParaSport, the local host team
Munster Mavericks
London Raiders

Raiders were drawn in a group with ParaSport and Portugal 1, and went through to the semi finals as group winners after a 64-47 win over the Portugese, and a 79-9 win over the hosts. Next were the Irish, who after losing to the Portugese National team in their first game, beat APD Sintra to set up an English-Irish semi final. A tough & physical game ensued, with both teams applying a full court press for most of the game, but Raiders proved to be the tougher team, emerging victorious by 47 to 37.

In the other semi final, Portugal 2 demolished Portugal 2, with tough press play and intimidating forwards, to set up their final encounter with Raiders. The final was a hard fought battle, but Raiders established an early lead and never relinquished it, despite seeing Portugal cut the lead to within 2 points in the final few minutes. Tough defence and smart play at the end of the game secured a 48-44 victory and the gold medal. To add to the celebrations, Raiders player Jess Pilkington took away the MVP award for her outstanding play during the tournament.

Raiders would like to thank everyone involved for their support and contribution.

The Raiders Squad:

Jaspal Dhani (Coach)
Wendy Smith
Andrew Stevenson
Andrew Weeks
Chris Weeks
Hadj Lahmar
Jack Gibbs
Jessica Pilkington (MVP)
Josh Lawler
Tyler Saunders
Emlyn Whittick

and Courtney Carter, our referee